WINTER EDITION Issue #43

Welcome to our Winter edition of WSIB@work. In this issue you'll find information about:

• Surplus rebates providing certain relief in uncertain times
• Reducing your administrative overtime burden
• How we're simplifying independent operator decisions
• Joining our Health and Safety Excellence program and making your workplace safer
• Making it easier for businesses to meet their reporting obligations
• The real-life applications of WSIB's Research and Grants Program

Surplus rebates providing certain relief in uncertain times

We’ve now distributed $2 billion in surplus rebates to eligible, safe Schedule 1 businesses. Eligible businesses can log in to their WSIB account to view their rebate amount and use it to pay for future premiums or further invest in new jobs, technology, and health and safety improvements.

You can learn more about our surplus rebate and individual business eligibility criteria.

Reducing your administrative overtime burden

Effective December 5, we removed the distinction between mandatory and voluntary overtime in our calculation of short-term average earnings. You no longer need to distinguish overtime types in the earnings information you provide us.

This change will help ease your administrative burden and help your employees receive timely first payments. Long-term average earnings are not impacted by this change as we already include voluntary overtime and will continue to do so.

Our enhanced Health and Safety Excellence Program can help make your workplace safer, while earning rebates on your WSIB premiums and an extra $1,000 when you start! The program can:  

• Reduce the risk of workplace injuries and illnesses 
• Support employee confidence, productivity and psychological well-being 
• Get advice from leading health and safety professionals 
• Earn badges to show your commitment to workplace health and safety 
• Boost your bottom line—our members have earned more than $72 million so far

For small businesses or those new to health and safety, we have tailored support to help you start and give you confidence you’re taking the right steps.

Learn more about the program or register for an information session on workplace health and safety.

We’ve updated our injury or illness reporting self-evaluator for businesses to make it easier for you to ensure you’re meeting your WSIB responsibilities, identify gaps in your reporting process and access helpful resources. You can use our self-evaluator tool to learn more about your reporting obligations and how to report an injury or illness.

The WSIB’s Research and Grants Program provides funding for research with real-life applications for people and businesses in Ontario, like the innovative research on occupational hand dermatitis lead by Dr. Kathryn Nichol of VHA Home HealthCare.

Dr. Nichol and VHA experts developed a free online training module about detecting, managing and preventing occupational hand dermatitis–a condition that can significantly impact quality of life. While the module is focused on healthcare, the WSIB is working with Dr. Nichol to expand to other sectors.

Since 2016, we’ve provided $13 million in funding, supporting 52 research and training studies across the province. Learn more about the Research and Grants Program and proposal criteria.

"What's New"

A newsletter by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development

Stay updated on current news from the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development by subscribing to What's New. Delivered monthly to your inbox, this newsletter features the latest on occupational health and safety, employment standards and labour relations that could affect you and your workplace.

The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) is here to help. When an injury or illness happens on the job, we move quickly to provide wage-loss benefits, medical coverage and support to help people get back to work. Funded by businesses, we also provide no-fault collective liability insurance and access to industry-specific health and safety information. We are one of the largest insurance organizations in North America covering over five million people in more than 300,000 workplaces across Ontario.

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